Gunmen kill 6 female aid workers in Pakistan

The father of an aid worker mourns the death of his daughter at a hospital in Swabi, Pakistan. (AP)

Peshawar, Jan. 1 (Reuters): Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor today, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers.

Their vehicle was raked with gunfire as they returned home from work at a children’s community centre run by Pakistani charity Ujala, said district police officer Abdur Rashid Khan. Their driver was seriously wounded in the attack.

The shooting in Swabi district, about 75km northwest of Islamabad, was the first attack on aid workers in the area.

The victims worked at the centre for aid agency Support With Working Solutions.

The organisation is involved in health education in underdeveloped parts of the country, Akhtar said. It had run a school and dispensary in Swabi and helped vaccinate children against polio, a disease that can cripple or kill within hours of infection. He suspected the shootings might be linked to a string of attacks on polio vaccinators last month.

Karachi blast

A bomb exploded in a crowded area of Karachi today, killing at least two people and wounding 50, police said. Two of the injured were in a critical condition, police spokesman Imran Shaukat said.